Interview w/CLOT Magazine
CHRISTOPHER LUTTERODT-QUARCOO (CL-Q), upheaving dominant historical and political narratives
Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo (CL-Q for short), is a multifaceted creative investigator whose work is rooted in the complexities of living as an African in a world shaped by western colonialism. He strives to build collective cultural competence by merging historical inquiry with the analytical processes that he learned as a design student. Working across film, writing, installation and sound without being tethered to a specific medium, CL-Q uses seeks to upheave dominant historical and political narratives.
Design underlies CL-Q’s work by emphasizing the importance of community interaction and engagement in the research process. He recognizes the value of integrating design principles to revive other disciplines such as politics, archaeology and history, revealing questions that educational institutions and governments have not yet considered. CL-Q responds by creating visuals and objects that encapsulate the heavyweight of dismantling bureaucratic legacies, often captured as figures obscured by shadows and projections of archival images on human bodies that link the historical with the personal. His ongoing Unmaterialised™archive presents findings of the targeted historical inquiry, and The Adv_™ Forum designs workshops to facilitate dialogue and empathy around sociopolitical issues.
CL-Q strives to use design processes to both simplify and experiment with language. As an artist who openly advocates for the free dissemination of knowledge, CL-Q’s decision to trademark his two major projects as proprietary design services evokes questions about ownership of knowledge and process. CL-Q wants to expose power structures to instil doubt, yet his own developmental methods are obscured to the audience. When discussing the challenges he encounters in his work, he only alludes to the demanding complexity that goes into developing each Unmaterialised™ project. If we don’t necessarily get (or even need) answers, then what exactly are the new methodologies that emerge from CL-Q’s work and can be used by global audiences to interrogate their own narratives and beliefs?
In this historical moment marked by a volatile political and environmental climate, CL-Q’s investigations can provide useful analytical tools for people who are questioning the roots of their own values. Yet the connections between CL-Q’s workshop dialogues, film work and exhibitions are not fully developed for a global audience, leaving those who haven’t had the opportunity to experience his work in person with a fragmented understanding of his vision. It will be interesting to see if CL-Q follows up with past The Adv_™ Forum participants to discuss how these workshops helped them develop new analytical frameworks if these revelations have resulted in lasting personal changes, and how these findings will inform CL-Q’s future projects.
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Words by : Marielle Saums
Read More : http://www.clotmag.com/christopher-lutterodt-quarco
